AURORA, Colo. — Brendan Connolly of The Ridge at Castle Pines North, a former Gonzaga University golfer, started very quickly Thursday at the 79th CGA Stroke Play Championship, firing a 7-under-par 64 for a two-shot lead after the first round at CommonGround Golf Course.

Connolly (left), the 2008 CGA Junior Player of the Year, eagled the 539-yard par-5 11th hole and added five birdies in a bogey-free day on Thursday.

In a round where 22 players broke par at the course that's owned and operated by the CGA and CWGA, Behrod Keshtavar of Colorado National Golf Club holds second place at 66. Keshtavar made an eagle, five birdies and two bogeys on Thursday.

Five players are bunched in third place at 67, including 2015 CGA Match Play champion Nick Nosewicz of Meadow Hills Golf Course, Match Play runner-up Connor Klein of Lone Tree Golf Club, Jon Lindstrom of Lakewood Country Club, University of Colorado golfer Ethan Freeman from Glenwoor Country Club, and Loyola Marymount golfer Braden Baer of Legacy Ridge Golf Course.

Nosewicz and Jimmy Makloski of Pueblo Country Club, who fired a 68 on Thursday, shared second place at the 2014 CGA Stroke Play. Last year's champion, David Oraee of Greeley Country Club, isn't defending his title as he'll be playing practice rounds this weekend for the U.S. Amateur in Olympia Fields, Ill.

Nosewicz's win at the Match Play also came at CommonGround. Though CGA records aren't complete, what is in the association archives indicates this is the first year that the CGA's major amateur championships -- the Match Play and Stroke Play -- were both contested on the same course.

The field will be cut to the low 40 players and ties after Friday's second round.

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